SELECT A REGION

Glass Houses 14: Margarita Cabrera

Following in the path of her signature monarch butterflies, artist Margarita Cabrera just migrated from El Paso to Houston where she’s teaching sculpture at the University of Houston. The day I arrived at Cabrera’s El Paso studio, she was packing up, taking care of her son’s fever and being mindful of his doctor’s appointment. Her studio is in a refurbished hen house nestled in a beautiful wooded area of El Paso. Needless to say we had to talk and take photographs as quickly as we could. Even in the hustle of our visit Cabrera made me feel welcome as we drank homemade lemonade while discussing her work and her move to Houston.

“My artistic passion started from a young age when I was educated in the Montessori system, I think that is where it all began.” – MC

Margarita Cabrera was born in Monterrey, Mexico and currently lives and works in Houston TX. She received her MFA from Hunter College. Cabrera was a 2008 ArtPace resident and is the recipient of a Joan Mitchell Foundation grant. Her work explores the provocative issues of border relations, Mexican immigration and particularly ideas of economic exchange, dislocation and notions of the “American dream.”